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No worries, thanks for the article! I would say that if you are trying to recreate an American lifestyle with a car, house, designer shopping, dining out, etc.

No worries, thanks for the article! I would say that if you are trying to recreate an American lifestyle with a car, house, designer shopping, dining out, etc. Yes, Singapore is the most expensive city in the world. But there is extremely little crime here (to the point where Singaporeans are a bit lacking in caution like a galapagos iguana in my opinion). HDBs are absurdly cheap for how nice they are. I pay $500 a month to live here. And while the downtown core and Tampines are very crowded, traffic is decently efficient during a variety of commuting methods. And my bike rides through Lim Chu Kang are practically deserted :)

vram22 10y ago
I too had heard from a friend working there that Singapore was somewhat expensive. Are the pay levels commensurate with costs, for software people? Also: How long have you been living there, and have you experienced that yearly smoke from burning of forests in Malaysia and Indonesia? My friend said that is an issue, and I've read about that in other places too, also that it happens in Chiang Mai, Thailand and nearby areas too. How do you handle it, if it is an issue?
- salesguy222 10y ago
  The pay is actually shockingly all over the place, in my opinion. The reason for this is that income tax is virtually non existent, so thats 30% less that they need to pay you compared to the US. Then when you factor in the CPF, which is a mandatory contribution to a retirement fund that employers make for their employees, that's another 10% pay cut or so off the typical market rate. Then there is a local talent pool for ~enterprise technology~ (c++ and java, mysql) that are quite underpaid. Mobile dev jobs pay well but there isn't much equity to go around. The only people making real money here are the bankers, lawyers, and doctors. Tech is still a side show in my opinion. Think New York in the 80s. Still you will be just fine if you live like "us locals", avoiding the obvious scams that are reproducing Western life here, like Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa, LV, buying a Mercedes :) The smog is a pretty big problem 1 month out of the year! It's wise to wear a mask and stay indoors, in my opinion. I've researched the problem- it's a political one that probably won't be solved. Indonesians have the right land and climate for growing palm, which is used in palm oil soap from Dove, which Westerners buy mindlessly. The farmers burn their land in a type of old school crop rotation, and a bunch of Singaporean and Indonesian companies pay them for their crop. So there is pretty strong demand and multiple levels. I think it's a nuissance but not the end of the world. It's probably not even as serious as say, nuclear problems in Japan, smog in LA, seasonal depression in Boston and Seattle. It's just that it's quirky and in the news. When I moved here, I realized how many things were relentlessly sensationalized in the American news by Americans so that they would feel better about living in America with all of its interestingly American problems :)
  - vram22 10y ago
    Thanks for the detailed reply.
  - eru 10y ago
    More dangerous than any nuclear problems in Japan probably. But yes, probably on par with the others you mentioned. Varies a bit from year to year.
- eru 10y ago
  Smog came over about once a year for a week when I was living in Singapore. Pay can be good for programmers. I got 140k SGDP/year (and paid 5% income tax on average on it). And while I make more than that now, it's a perfectly adequate salary---even for living in the city centre.
  - vram22 10y ago
    Good to know, thanks. I do remember my friend saying that income tax in SG was low, but 5% seems quite low, which is good.
    - eru 10y ago
      My marginal rate was 15%---which is also the top rate. But I've only just hit that bracket, so my average was still a 5% total. The only other significant tax to pay is 7% VAT. Unless you want to own a car. That's expensive, and fortunately unnecessary.

vram22 10y ago

I too had heard from a friend working there that Singapore was somewhat expensive. Are the pay levels commensurate with costs, for software people? Also: How long have you been living there, and have you experienced that yearly smoke from burning of forests in Malaysia and Indonesia? My friend said that is an issue, and I've read about that in other places too, also that it happens in Chiang Mai, Thailand and nearby areas too. How do you handle it, if it is an issue?

salesguy222 10y ago
The pay is actually shockingly all over the place, in my opinion. The reason for this is that income tax is virtually non existent, so thats 30% less that they need to pay you compared to the US. Then when you factor in the CPF, which is a mandatory contribution to a retirement fund that employers make for their employees, that's another 10% pay cut or so off the typical market rate. Then there is a local talent pool for ~enterprise technology~ (c++ and java, mysql) that are quite underpaid. Mobile dev jobs pay well but there isn't much equity to go around. The only people making real money here are the bankers, lawyers, and doctors. Tech is still a side show in my opinion. Think New York in the 80s. Still you will be just fine if you live like "us locals", avoiding the obvious scams that are reproducing Western life here, like Marina Bay Sands, Sentosa, LV, buying a Mercedes :) The smog is a pretty big problem 1 month out of the year! It's wise to wear a mask and stay indoors, in my opinion. I've researched the problem- it's a political one that probably won't be solved. Indonesians have the right land and climate for growing palm, which is used in palm oil soap from Dove, which Westerners buy mindlessly. The farmers burn their land in a type of old school crop rotation, and a bunch of Singaporean and Indonesian companies pay them for their crop. So there is pretty strong demand and multiple levels. I think it's a nuissance but not the end of the world. It's probably not even as serious as say, nuclear problems in Japan, smog in LA, seasonal depression in Boston and Seattle. It's just that it's quirky and in the news. When I moved here, I realized how many things were relentlessly sensationalized in the American news by Americans so that they would feel better about living in America with all of its interestingly American problems :)
- vram22 10y ago
  Thanks for the detailed reply.
- eru 10y ago
  More dangerous than any nuclear problems in Japan probably. But yes, probably on par with the others you mentioned. Varies a bit from year to year.
eru 10y ago
Smog came over about once a year for a week when I was living in Singapore. Pay can be good for programmers. I got 140k SGDP/year (and paid 5% income tax on average on it). And while I make more than that now, it's a perfectly adequate salary---even for living in the city centre.
- vram22 10y ago
  Good to know, thanks. I do remember my friend saying that income tax in SG was low, but 5% seems quite low, which is good.
  - eru 10y ago
    My marginal rate was 15%---which is also the top rate. But I've only just hit that bracket, so my average was still a 5% total. The only other significant tax to pay is 7% VAT. Unless you want to own a car. That's expensive, and fortunately unnecessary.